Flow Through the Emergency Department for Patients Presenting with Substance Use Disorder in Alberta, Canada

Introduction: Since 2016 the province of Alberta, Canada, has seen a significant increase in substance use disorder (SUD) presentations to the emergency department (ED) with a large surge during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this retrospective study we deconstruct the total length of stay (LOS) in the ED into stages for patients presenting with SUD and estimate the effects of covariates on the time to transition between stages.Methods:Using the Canadian Coding Standards for International Classification of Diseases, 10th Modification, codes F10.0-F19.9 and T36.0-T50.9, we extracted data from the National Ambulatory Care Reporting System between April 1, 2019 –March 31, 2020 on all ED presentations for SUD by Alberta residents.We used a multistate model to deconstruct theEDLOS into eight mutually exclusive states and determine which factors affected the time spent in each state.Results: We analyzed 66,880 presentations...
Source: Western Journal of Emergency Medicine - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Source Type: research